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Shadows of P'Jem (episode)
Archer and T'Pol are taken prisoner during an away mission on a war-torn planet in the Coridan system. Summary After the discovery of P'Jem as a base for spy activity against the Andorians, it is destroyed in an attack by the Andorians. In response to this, the Vulcan High Command calls for an end of joint Earth-Vulcan fleet operations and requests the transfer of T'Pol off of the [[Enterprise (NX-01)| Enterprise]]. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, Captain Archer mentions he's found an interesting place to visit in the Vulcan database: the Coridan system. One planet in the system is home of over 3 billion humanoids. He mentions this to Trip over dinner, but is pulled away by a communication from Earth. After being informed of the details of the Vulcan's recent decision, Archer summons T'Pol to his quarters to let her know. He gives her a PADD with all the details of the destruction of P'Jem, and informs her that the Ni'Var is coming to pick her up. She says she will get another crew member to finish the sector scans she was performing. Archer is unhappy about the transfer, and tells her this. He feels that the Vulcan High Command is having an emotional response, and that they are punishing him and her by taking her away from the ship, depriving the Enterprise of a capable officer and her skills. T'Pol says she is responsible for the destruction at P'Jem, and leaves. Archer tells Trip that he'll be taking T'Pol down to the surface alone so he can have some final time with her before the transfer. He wants to try and convince her to fight the transfer and stay on the Enterprise. Phlox visits T'Pol in the mess, drawing her attention from the PADD she was studying, to talk to her about the transfer. She indicates that she thinks the High Command's punishment is logical. Phlox reveals that T'Pol is not the first Vulcan posted to human ships, but she is the first to last more than a few weeks. The other Vulcans all requested transfers, citing the humans as too upredictable. He also warns her that the rest of the crew are planning a going-away party in her honor. Once in orbit, Archer and T'Pol head down to the captial city in a shuttle. Archer's attempts at small talk are broken by the sudden approach of a fixed-wing aircraft. The shuttle is commanded to change heading and reduce speed. Sensing trouble, Archer brings the weapons online and attempts to defend the shuttle. The shuttle is shot down, and Archer and T'Pol are both captured. After they regain conciousness, they are interrogated by one of the dissidents. He doesn't recognize Archer's species, but he does recognize T'Pol as a Vulcan, and states that the Vulcans are supporters of the government, meaning their enemies. They demand to know about the Enterprise''s shuttlepod and the phase pistols they found. Archer mentions that the protein resequencer can make chicken sandwiches. For this response, he is pistol-whipped. T'Pol quickly lies and says that Archer is a steward to stop him from being beaten further. Meanwhile, on the ''Enterprise Chancellor Kalev informs the crew about the capture of the hostages. She isn't very helpful, merely saying to not give in to any demands from the dissidents. Archer and T'Pol manage to stand up and shift in their bonds until they are facing each other. As T'Pol is undoing the knots, Archer tries to tell her that she's not responsible for the destruction of P'Jem. She says she should've protested, instead of letting Archer take the Enterprise to the planet and P'Jem. Just as they manage to get their bonds off, a guard comes. They try to subdue him, but are interrupted as more guards arrive and recapture them. On the ship, Trip and Malcolm are discussing a possible shuttle location in their sensor readings. As they are deciding whether to send a rescue team to the location, they get a transmission from the dissidents demanding 40 phase pistols in exchange for the hostages. The communication cuts off abruptly. Reed mentions that they only have 15 phase pistols aboard, and that even if they exchanged them for the hostages, there is no guarantee that they would return the hostages. Another transmission interupts the conversation, this time from the Ni'Var. Sopek demands to know where captain Archer is. Tucker fills them in on the situation, including the fact that T'Pol has also been captured with Archer. Sopek states that since it involves a Vulcan citizen, they will take over the investigation and handle the rescue. He cuts off the transmision right after telling Trip to not do anything foolish. Sopek, Trip, and Malcolm meet on the bridge of the Enterprise. Sopek outlines the Vulcan rescue plan; they intend to go in, striking at the terrorists and recapturing the hostages. Trip tries to talk him into using a different approach, but Sopek is firm in his logical decision. After Sopek leaves, Trip orders Malcolm to warm up the shuttle and get ready to move in. On the planet, Archer and T'Pol have been retied separately. A guard comes in and leaves food dishes at their feet. Archer orders T'Pol to eat to keep her strength up, and then does his best to eat his food. T'Pol copies him, flopping over and pushing her face up to the dish. As they are eating, Archer discovers a com device inside his dish. On the Enterprise, Sopek contacts the ship to ask about the shuttle launch. He demands to know what it was about. Hoshi stalls him for a few minutes before breaking off the transmission. On the planet's surface, Reed and Tucker are making their way towards the shuttle signature, only to be captured by a pair of masked assailants. Thy'lek Shran takes the hoods off of the officers and interogates them. He claims that the Vulcans are preparing for a war against the Andorians. He also tells them that both the Captain and T'Pol will be killed once they give the weapons to the dissidents. Shran also says he will release the officers, as he feels he has a debt to them for showing him P'Jem. Once he rescues the Captain and T'Pol, he'll consider the debt repaid. Given the number of guards, Trip feels the odds are unfair and he volunteers himself and Malcolm to help rescue the hostages. Shran agrees to let them help. Via the com device smuggled in, Trip tells Archer about their plan to rescue him. Tucker approaches the guards outside the compound and uses Andorian ale to distract them. As this is happening, the operatve lets in the Andorian agents. Suspecting a trap as Reed makes a noise, the outside guards grab Tucker, causing a commotion and distracting the wall guards. The Andorians make short work of the wall guards, and open the main gates to let in Tucker and Reed. Just as they are moving further into the compound, the Vulcans blow a hole in the fence and start shooting. The Andorian operative is shot by a wayward blast just as he enters the cell to release Archer and T'Pol. With their escape cut off and the guards alerted, the rescue team is forced to join the firefight to save the hostages. After exchanging fire with the dissidents, the team manages to reach the cell. Shran gives back the Vulcan scanning device to T'Pol and pronounces his debt repaid. Just as this happens, the Vulcans set off an explosion which kills and knocks out the remaining dissidents. As the rescue team is leaving, the Vulcans accuse the Andorians of violating the Tau Ceti Accords. As they argue back and forth, a wounded terrorist aims his plasma pistol at Sopek and shoots. T'Pol notices this and jumps in the way of the blast, saving him. As Archer orders the crew to take T'Pol back to the ship for medical treatement, Sopek says she's no longer Archer's responsibility. Archer tells Sopek he'll help her. In the medical bay, Phlox updates the captains on T'Pol's status. Archer talks about the situation with Sopek, telling him that he can see how the Vulcan High Command could be annoyed at her, but that it is unreasonable to punish her by stripping her of her position. Using the argument that she risked a lot to help Sopek, he asks him to go before the High Command and ask for leniency for her. Sopek initially disagrees, but Phlox mentions that it will be impossible to move T'Pol for some time. With this strong reminder of what T'Pol risked to save him, he agrees to mention something when he meets with the High Command in three days time. With Sopek gone, Phlox wakes T'Pol and tells her that she needs 24 hours of bed rest before she can return to duty. Archer tells her that she made a strong impression on Sopek, and that he will talk to the High Command. After saying that he thinks she's likely to stay on the Enterprise for a long time, she replies that she should've been consulted about it. Archer says she still has time to catch up to Sopek, but she lays back stating that doing so would violate doctor's orders. Background Information *Jeffrey Combs, Vaughn Armstrong and Gregory Itzin are all Star Trek: Deep Space Nine veterans, as they all played at least two characters on that series. Combs and Armstrong both appeared in that series' penultimate episode "The Dogs of War". Jeffrey Combs played Weyoun and Brunt and Vaughn Armstrong played Seskal. Links and References Guest Stars *Jeffrey Combs as Shran *Vaughn Armstrong as Maxwell Forrest *Gregory Itzin as Sopek *Gary Graham as Soval *Jeff Kober as Traeg *Steven Dennis as Tholos *Barbara Tarbuck as Kalev References Andorians; Andorian ale; chicken sandwich; Coridan; Coridans; Coridan aircraft; Coridan ship; dicobalt explosives; ditanium; Emerald City; Gardner; Houdini, Harry; Ni'Var; P'Jem; phase pistol; "pinkskin"; plomeek broth; protein resequencer; Starfleet Command; Tau Ceti Accords (Tau Ceti); Union Station; Vulcans; Vulcan Consulate; Vulcan database; Vulcan High Command |next= }} Category: ENT episodes de:Im Schatten von P'Jem es:Shadows of P'Jem nl:Shadows of P'Jem pl:Shadows of P'Jem sv:Shadows of P'Jem